06 August
2006
in
the
evening
Dear
Friends,
I regret
coming to
you again
today, again
with a story
of hateful
behavior,
but I
believe that
it is a
story I am
to tell.
I was
scheduled to
leave Tel
Aviv on
Swiss Air
flight
number 255D
at 15:55
this
afternoon.
I proceeded
as usual to
the baggage
and security
clearance
area. After
asking me
both
relevant and
non-relevant
security
questions,
the young
woman
security
officer
concluded by
questioning
why I did
not have an
Israeli visa
even though
I was
carrying an
Israeli
passport!!
Then she
let me put
my bags on
the conveyor
belt so that
they could
be screened,
after
decorating
both bags
and my
passport
with blue
and green
stickers.
Then I saw
her rushing
to a
supervisor
who ordered
the belt
stopped.
Approaching
me he asked,
"English or
Hebrew?" I
responded,
"Please,
Arabic."
Arabic is
one of two
official
languages of
the State of
Israel and I
knew that it
was my right
in this
"oasis of
democracy"
to make that
official
request.
Because I
refused to
speak other
than Arabic,
because I
informed
them that I
am an
Arab-Palestinian-Christian,
and because
down deep I
knew that
their
behavior was
designed to
humiliate
me, I
insisted in
conversing
with them in
the language
I master
which is
Arabic, my
mother
tongue. At
that point,
Tal Vardi,
the Security
Duty Manager
also showed
up and
insisted on
speaking in
any language
other than
Arabic. I
refused. An
Arab from
Nazareth who
happened to
be present
offered to
translate
when Mr.
Vardi turned
his back and
turned
toward me
only to say,
"You will
not fly
today!"
I called
Mr. Caesar
Marjieh,
Director of
the
Department
for
Christian
Communities
who tried
his best to
assist me,
but he did
not succeed.
I waited
two hours
thinking
that someone
with enough
courtesy and
good
judgment
would come,
but to no
avail. I
had no
alternative
but to
return to
Jerusalem
and inform
my friends
who were
expecting me
in Geneva
today and
London
tomorrow of
the
situation.
Later in the
week I will
file a suit
in the High
Court
against the
Security
Duty Manager
and his
staff for
violating my
civil rights
without
cause.
My
indignation
is not for
me, but it
is for all
people in
occupied
territories
who face
this kind of
oppression
and
humiliation
every day of
their
lives. This
happened to
an Anglican
Bishop with
special
identification
given him by
the
Department
of the
Interior and
the Ministry
of Religious
Affairs.
What do you
imagine
happens to
others?
In, with,
and through
Christ,
The Rt. Rev.
Riah H. Abu
El-Assal
Bishop
The Diocese
of Jerusalem
Palestine,
Israel,
Jordan,
Lebanon,
Syria